“Jackson led his fellow judges in another standing O after Ledet's take on Sam Cooke's ‘A Change Is Gonna Come,’” wrote recapper Amy Reiter @ LATimes.com “Tyler told Ledet that his voice ‘climbs inside everyone’ and changes them. Jackson liked the way he let the song ‘marinate and then burst it open at the end.’ And Lopez was left begging, ‘Please, America, don't send this boy home. Please.’"

Joshua Ledet will sing “I Believe” in honor of Season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino who, he gushes, is “one of the reasons I auditioned for ‘Idol’.” Last week, Joshua was in the Bottom Three, so he too is looking for redemption, but the whole Mantasia thing isn’t really working. He’s shouting, the chorus is too loud, the lights are giving us a headache. The judges jump to their feet. “You leave it all on the stage every single time…Your eyes are tearing, your throat is bulging!” raves JLo.

Fantasia’s hit “I Believe” was Joshua’s choice. Jimmy grilled him about landing in the bottom three and told him to figure out what happened before hitting the stage again. Joshua said he didn’t really know. But he must have unlocked the key because the judges were up on their feet and Randy called Joshua’s showing one of the best, urging America to get it right this week. “You could sing the phonebook,” said Steven.

Sam Cooke's wonderful "A Change is Gonna Come" is his pick. As soon as you hear that, you know he will finish the song to a standing ovation. And Joshua delivers, letting it build and paying carefully attention to the lyrics. His voice does have some similarities to Cooke's, but it doesn't seem forced. This should guarantee him a spot next week.

The “Idol” results hour airs at 7 p.m. Thursday on WVUE.

Watch both of Ledet’s Wednesday performances here, then keep reading below the boxes.

Local angle

June Thomas @ Slate.com looks at the unstoppable ratings phenomenon called “Swamp People:”

Fans of NBC’s smart-alec sitcoms Community and 30 Rock are accustomed to worrying that disappointing ratings will doom their favorites to cancellation. So their performance last Thursday night wasn’t a surprise: Community attracted just 3 million viewers and 30 Rock a mere 2.79 million. Meanwhile, over on History, as the channel is now known, a show called Swamp People was seen by 4.5 million people and drew more 18-to-49-year-olds—the group that advertisers most want to reach—than any of the shows in NBC’s lineup.

Today in "Treme"

HBO has posted its video report on “Treme’s” March 31 My Darlin New Orleans fundraiser, and it contains some sneak scenes from season three, currently in production in New Orleans en route to a likely September premiere.

Watch it here, then keep reading below the box.

TV tweet of the day so far

Brian Stelter ‏ ‪(@brianstelter):

According to the final Nielsen ratings, @GMA led @todayshow by 31,000 total viewers last week. (Preliminary ratings had em ahead by 13,000.)

TV Thursday

See above, plus: “Debating Across Borders” airs at 9 p.m. on WYES. “Kathy” launches at the same hour on Bravo. And NBC’s smart-alec lineup is all-new starting with “Community” at 7 p.m. on WDSU.

Dave Walker can be reached at dwalker@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3429. Read more TV coverage at NOLA.com/tv. Follow him at twitter.com/davewalkertp.